Archives

Categories

In case you are living under a rock and haven’t seen this, here is Ted Williams:

Homeless for ten years, living in a tent next to a highway and doing voice over work for $1.00 per line. Almost like working in real radio for one of the big three consolidators. Anyway, I can’t think of a more humbling life experience, he seems to have kept his sense of humor and I hope that he lands that gig, God knows, some local radio station could use that talent.

Rumor has it the the Cleveland Cavaliers have offered him a good job. Hopefully things will work out for him.

These were all the rage when they came out some 23 years ago or so. They were specifically made for DJs that were used to shuffling carts in and out of cart machines. The idea was to use familiar motions and procedures so DJs could easily perform their shift using CDs without relearning studio dynamics. The only downside, a DJ could remove the CD that was playing by accident whereas pulling a playing cart out of a cart machine is difficult to do. Later Denon versions made it more difficult to remove playing CDs.

This is a promotions photo circa 1987.

Denon DN-950FA cart CD player

This machine is still in use 22 years after it’s manufacture date. Over the years the top cover has been removed countless times, no doubt to replace the KSS-210A optics and bearings or to periodically clean them. The Phillips head screws are so worn a screw extractor is nearly required.

Denon DN-950FA back

Denon DN-950 FA optics and platter

They are located under a circuit board, which has to be removed. Again, the DN-951 series CD players did away with this, making maintenance easier. These CD players could and often were affected by RF especially when the studios were co-located with an AM transmitter site. One such symptom was randomly speeding up and slowing down while playing. It made for some interesting sounding songs and even more interesting commentary by the morning show.

Every time the optics and bearing were replaced, there was a pretty involved alignment procedure that took some time to get right. I remember some funny Japanese to English translations in the service manual.

Of course, nowadays if there are any issues, you just chuck the computer and get a new one.

Axiom

A pessimist sees the glass as half empty. An optimist sees the glass as half full. The engineer sees the glass as twice the size it needs to be.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
~1st amendment to the United States Constitution

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
~Benjamin Franklin

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is hard business. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.
~Rudyard Kipling

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers
~Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Article 19

...radio was discovered, and not invented, and that these frequencies and principles were always in existence long before man was aware of them. Therefore, no one owns them. They are there as free as sunlight, which is a higher frequency form of the same energy.
~Alan Weiner